<p>Do you need to do summer activities for your college apps to look good? A ton of my friends are doing pre-college summer visits to colleges where they stay at the school for about 6 weeks doing college type activities... It's a lot of money... </p>
<p>I can't personally afford to do these things and I live on an Island where there are not many options of things to do that don't cost money (college summer activity wise), will this hurt how I look on applications? </p>
<p>EX: Last year one of my friends did the pre-college program at UC Berkeley and this year a different friend (both rising seniors) did the pre-college program at UPenn... I feel wimpy for not having done anything of the sort as well...</p>
<p>It really doesn’t help you if it is a paid program anyway… all it says is that your parents can pay for you to go to a summer program! The island location does limit you… do you have any opportunities to volunteer or get a summer job? Or develop a hobby (if it is not too late) – one of my kids leveraged her entomology hobby quite a bit in her college applications. What about looking into things like citizen scientist opportunities that you can assist with online? Or if you are a writer, there are a lot of online poetry contests – my D successfully entered some of those and was published a few times. Or spend the summer really prepping deeply for some EC you like (my kid was a quiz bowl participant, and she studied a lot in the summers – which really paid off in the fall). Oh, and there are online classes – you can take a couple of courses through something like Udacity, my D took statistics summer before senior year.</p>
<p>Living on an island is kind of exotic, maybe you can leverage that in your essays somehow, too. :)</p>
<p>@intparent I have a job so I’ve been working about 25-30 hours a week over the summer, but it’s not really a summer job, it’s my job job haha… I think that still counts though, right?</p>
<p>I am a writer so I suppose I could look into some contests and I’ll be sure to check out that Udacity program I’m not very good with EC’s like quiz bowls and debate teams because I work a lot… I guess I can see what some options are though… Thanks for the input! I just really hope I don’t look weak compared to others.</p>
<p>All colleges want to see is that you are active over the summer. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as you are productive. Working for 25-30 hours per week is great!</p>
<p>You live on an island? So do I! What if it’s the same… haha</p>
<p>What really limits me is my inability to drive yet (I’m underage anyway but going into Junior year). All opportunities are pretty much off island onto the “mainland” and there’s no way for me to get there. I say your job shows you’re pretty productive (I just have a job that’s 8 hours per week, and it’s not even paid). Two friends of mine are doing internships at UCSD and it makes me feel so bad about myself, but they’re both 16 and are able to drive and are eligible for internships. I, however, and too young. </p>
<p>Just emphasize on your hobbies during the summer. Such as reading and exploring and whatnot.</p>
<p>My son is starting his freshman year at Harvard next month. He never did a summer program. His summers were relatively busy, but not exceedingly so. A lot of his time was spent volunteering at our local hospital and practicing for his cross country and track teams. He also did a tutoring job just a few hours a week.</p>
<p>Don’t stress about summer activities. I never did a pre-college program or anything like that, and I was accepted to Harvard and several other Ivies.</p>
<p>I spent my summer before senior year working as a counselor at a local day camp, training for cross-country, looking at colleges, and having fun with friends and family.</p>
<p>That being said, it helps if you can show that you had at least a little bit of intellectual stimulation over the summer. For example, I was interested in programming, so I watched online Computer Science lectures. Something like that will give you something to talk about if a question about your summer comes up in an interview.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks everyone! I just feel so beneath all my friends because they have the opportunities to do that kind of stuff, but thanks for clarifying that it’s not needed :)</p>
I’m not very good with EC’s like quiz bowls and debate teams because I work a lot… I guess I can see what some options are though… Thanks for the input! I just really hope I don’t look weak compared to others.</p>